The farmers’ market right now is sample heaven. One of the best parts about Sunday mornings for me is that I get a morning off and don’t have to cook breakfast for my son OR my husband. That’s because most farmers’ markets feature tray after tray of freshly cut-up fruit and vegetable samples that farmers are begging you to try (of course so you’ll actually buy a bag full of their produce, but how can you resist?!).
Stone fruit (any fruit with a seed in the middle such as apricots, peaches and plums) at this time of year is incredible. Last summer when Kenya was just starting purees, I made this for him every few days. This luscious puree of white peaches and pluots ( a hybrid of plums and apricots which is 3/4 plum and 1/4 apricot to be precise) is heaven for babies.
The main difference between yellow and white peaches, besides the color, is that white peaches are generally sweeter. Pluots are known for their super sweet flavor, juiceiness and for being rich in Vitamin A.
You can really use any type of stone fruit for this recipe such a nectarines, plums, apricots or yellow peaches. If your baby is in the puree stage right now you’re so lucky because purees don’t get anymore beautiful and delicious than this one.

White Peach and Pluot Puree (Make 8 Baby Serving, freeze half)

2 White Peaches
2 Pluots

1. Using a knife, make an X at the bottom of the peaches and pluots, just cutting through the flesh. Make sure to leave them whole.
2. Place the fruit in a steamer pot over boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until the skin starts to peel back from the fruit.
3. Let the fruit cool for a minute or two. Peel all of the skin off the fruit (if you’re using ripe fruit, it should come right off).
4. Cut the fruit into large chunks, discarding the pit and place in a food processor.
5. Puree until smooth.
6. Cool and serve.

*Place in Baby Cubes and freeze.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

In my ongoing quest to find foods that are both healthy and easy for toddlers 
to hold themselves, I decided to make falafels for Kenya. The only 
trick to this dish is to make them suitable for his little taste-buds without having to fry them in gallons of oil like most falafel recipes call for.

Falafels are made with a base of garbanzo beans, a legume also known as 
chickpeas. Have you ever looked closely at a chickpea? Some say they 
look like a chick’s beak, hence the name. Beak or no beak, they’re a powerhouse of 
fiber. Fiber is an important part of a little one’s diet because it tends to fill them up longer then other foods, giving them energy to run around and 
play. Garbanzo beans are an excellent vegetarian source of protein and are 
high in calcium, magnesium and folate.

I also added a little yogurt dipping sauce alongside this recipe which boosts the nutritional content of the meal even more and adds a little fun for the kids. Now, if I can only 
get my husband out of Kenya’s food, which is slowly becoming “their” food. My husband figures that if what Kenya’s eating is super healthy, he wants to eat it too. Like father, like son. Or should I say, like son, like father?!

Falafel (Make 14 Mini Falafel)

1 15 Oz Can Cooked Chick Peas (Garbanzo Beans), rinsed and drained
1 Garlic Clove
1/4 Cup Onion, chopped
1/4 Cup Cilantro, chopped
1/4 Cup Parsley
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs
1 Tsp Cumin
1/2 Tsp Salt
Olive, Vegetable or Canola Oil for pan searing

1. Place the first 8 ingredients in a food processor and puree. Make sure the mixture is throughly combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixture as needed.
2. With moist hands (so the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands) form patties using about 1 tablespoon of the mixture and place on a plate while you form the remaining patties.
3. In a medium saute pan, heat around 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. You want the pan to have a thin coating of oil.
4. Add half of the patties to the pan and saute for 4 minutes on each side or until golden (you may have to add a little more oil if your pan get too dry).
5. Remove the patties from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate (to absorb any extra oil).
6. Cook the remaining patties.
7. Cool and serve with yogurt sauce.

*After step 2, place patties on sheet tray and freeze for 30 minutes or until frozen then transfer to a ziploc bag,label and freeze up to 4 months. When ready, defrost in fridge for 24 hours and follow steps, 3-7.

Yogurt Tahini Sauce (Makes a little over 1/2 Cup)

1/2 Cup Yogurt
1 Tbsp Lemon
1 Tbsp Tahini (if your little one has a nut allergy, you could leave this out)

1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.

*Place in appropriate container or ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 4 months. When ready, defrost in fridge for 24 hours.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

In our house, everything is more fun when it’s a holiday. The entire time we were making these sweet potato pancakes, it felt 
like Hanukkah. Potato pancakes or latkes as they are also known, 
are most commonly eaten in the fall during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Although it’s 
the middle of July and grossly hot outside, the sweet potatoes at this week’s farmer’s market were incredible and I couldn’t help wanting to 
make something with them.
I decided to pump up the nutritional value in my version by making them with 
sweet potatoes. It’s amazing how delicious the natural sweetness from the potato 
and the savory flavors from the onion and garlic marry into such a delectable 
treat. Kenya was digging them in a big and bad way.
Whenever I hand 
him something whole, especially like these big, crunchy circles he 
looks like he’s hit the food jack pot. 
For your little ones who are getting into dipping, I added apple sauce 
which no latke should ever go without!

Sweet Potato Latkes (Make 20 Toddler Pancakes)

1 Sweet Potato, grated (this came out to be 3 cups)
2 Tbsp Whole Wheat Flour
2 Eggs, beaten
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
Canola or Vegetable Oil, for pan searing
Apple Sauce

1. Place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and throughly combine.
2. Place a large saute pan or griddle over medium heat.
3. Heat 3-4 Tbsp of oil, or enough to coat the bottom of the pan, in the saute pan for 30 seconds.
4. Add a heaping tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture to the pan. Pat down the mixture with the back of a fork and form into a thin, circular patty (you don’t want them to be thick or they won’t cook through).
5. Cook for 5 minutes or until they begin to turn golden. Flip them over.
6. Continue to cook for 5 more minutes or until the bottom is golden.
7. Place the patties on a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining sweet potato mixture.
8. Cool patties and serve.

*Allow to cool, then place in ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready, pop them into a oven at 300 for 10 minutes or until warmed through or defrost in fridge for 24 hours then heat in a dry pan.

We used these to make this recipe:

Oxo Good Grips Box Grater

Chef’s Design 20-Inch Double Burner Reversible Grill/Griddle

I have been on a huge almond butter kick ever since I tried Barney Butter, which I think is the best of all the brands that I’ve tried. Still, my husband has always loved almond butter and he thinks he knows what tastes best, so just to make sure, I did a blind taste test with seven people of different ages (Kenya included!) to see what they thought. It was so much fun! I hid the three different nut butters we were testing (raw almond butter from Trader Joes and Mara Natha no-stir almond butter were the other brands) and let each person try a spoon full of each brand and let them decide which they liked the best. Incredibly, it was unanimous, Barney Butter won each time — even with my husband!
Besides the fact that this almond butter is smooth (not the kind where the oil and nut butter separate and you have to stir for ages to get it to a normal consistency). Even better, it’s produced by a California mother of four, has less saturated fat then peanut butter and its high in magnesium and vitamin E which amongst other things helps to protect skin, circulation, brain and hormones against pollution.
These pops are a perfect energy treat for your little one because they have a fruit and protein. Try pulling them out at a kids summer party and I guarantee you’ll hear oohs and ahhhs from the crowd.

Banana, Almond Butter Pops (Makes 8 Pops, depending on the size of your molds)

3 Bananas
1/4 Cup Almond Butter
1/3 Cup Rice or Almond Milk (Plain or Vanilla)

1. Place the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
2. Pour several tablespoons of mixture into popsicle molds (follow manufacturer’s directions for your mold).
3. Freeze overnight (or a minimum of 4-5 hours).
4. Serve.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for…popsicles! OK, fine, I know 
that’s not how the song goes, but I promise you’ll have some seriously happy little ones after serving this treat (The picture of Kenya, above, gleefully holding his 2 popsicles was so much better then the actual shot of the finished product).

Why do all popsicle recipes have to have so much sugar in them? Not only is it bad for you, but you lose all the great, sweet natural taste of the fruit. I got the most 
heavenly strawberries from Harry’s Berries at the farmers market and decided to see if I could make popsicles (heaven forbid) without sugar. Not only was the end result delicious, I felt like they were totally superior to brands that I bought at the grocery with added sugar.

This recipe makes 12 popsicles for a fraction of the price you’d pay for a box of “healthy” or organic pops. In those, you only get 6 and spend more for the privilege. So these are tasty and a good deal too.

Strawberries are packed full of vitamin C and ellagic acid, believed 
to be help prevent cancer. The allergic potential for strawberries is high, though, so make sure to only give these to kids over the age of one without a history of food sensitivities. As always, ask your doctor first if you have any concerns.

I served these to kids at a swim party this week and you should have 
seen their eyes light up when I pulled them out. The best part was 
after they ate them, the little ones weren’t jacked up on sugar which 
made all the mommies and daddies VERY happy!

Strawberry Popsicles (Makes 6 Popsicles-depending on the size of your molds)

2 1/4 Cups Strawberries, stems removed
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Honey or Agave

* If your strawberries aren’t very sweet you can add honey, agave or sugar to brighten the flavor (if you’re making these for babies until 12 months, do not use honey)

1. Place the strawberries, lemon juice and honey in a food processor or blender and puree.
2. Pour several tablespoons into the individual molds. (Follow the manufacturers directions for your mold).
3. Freeze overnight (or a minimum of 4-5 hours).
4. Serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

One of the biggest culinary hits that I’ve made for Kenya so far is pesto. 
I’m not only talking about the traditional pesto made with basil, 
though. I’m talking about all different kinds like cilantro, parsley and now my new favorite, 
spinach. This recipe is bright green in color and since I added tofu, 
it has an even creamier texture then the traditional variety.
Spinach is rich in the antioxidants vitamin C, iron and beta-carotene. 
Since it can have a strong taste when cooked, this raw, pureed version 
takes on a delicate almost sweet flavor.
I mixed most of it into pasta and then with the remainder, I covered 2 
salmon fillets and baked them, one for me and one for Kenya, so 
everyone was happy.


Spinach Pesto (Makes 3/4 Cup Pesto)

1 Cup Spinach, packed
1/4 Cup Walnuts
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbsp Tofu, silken
1 Small Garlic Clove
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
2 Cups Pasta, cooked

1. Place all the ingredients, except for the pasta, in a food processor and puree until smooth.
2. Mix with pasta and serve.

*Place in ice cubes and freeze, transfer to a ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready, toss in hot pasta to defrost or defrost in fridge for 24 hours.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

I can’t stop buying cherimoyas….wait, do you know what a cherimoya is? I didn’t until recently and I’m so happy we found each other. A cherimoya is a fruit that Mark Twain called “the most delicious fruit known to man”. So, as I said, I can’t stop buying them and wanting to mix them with every
 fruit to make purees for Kenya. I got one at the Santa Monica Farmers
 market yesterday that was so ripe and sweet, I couldn’t resist buying it. Now
 that peaches are in season and finally starting to pop up again at the market, I feel like
 summer’s bounty of fruit is finally here.
Cherimoyas are high in fiber, iron and niacin. Make sure to pick ones
 that are soft when you give them a light squeeze, a good sign that
 they’re ripe. You can cut them into 6-8 pieces, pick out and throw
 away the big black seeds and then pull away the flesh from the skin
 which you can feed to your baby straight or puree.
Peaches are high in potassium, vitamin A and C. When they’re soft and
 ripe there is nothing like it. I waited until the peaches were very ripe,
 peeled them and then pureed them with cherimoya. I’m not exaggerating
 when I tell you that Kenya ate the entire bowl of puree that I made
 for this recipe (do you get the sense my son eats everything?!)

Peach & Cherimoya Puree (2-3 baby servings, unless your baby is like Kenya and eats the entire puree in one sitting)

1 Peach, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 Cherimoya, seeds removed, and peeled

1. Place both ingredients in the food processor and puree.
2. Serve

*Place in Baby Cubes and freeze.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

Kenya usually loves beans in any form, but for some reason when I gave him whole cannelini beans, he didn’t want to eat them. I tried several times, but no go and I didn’t want to throw them out so I came up with this puree.
Recently, I turned the sunny side of our yard into my own little garden.
This time of year, the herbs are growing like weeds, so I try to use them in as many of our dishes as possible. For this puree I added basil and a touch of mint. If you don’t have the mint, no worries, it will still be delicious.
Herbs have tons of vitamins and minerals and medicinal properties making them important for baby’s nutrition. They’re also great substitutes for salt and heighten your baby’s palate and taste buds. I guarantee you’ll be shocked at how a pinch of cilantro, oregano, thyme or any other herb can brighten a dish for you and your baby.

Cannelini Bean Puree (6 Baby Servings)

1 Cup Cannelini Beans, cooked
1/4 Cup Red Bell Pepper, chopped (you could also use orange or yellow)
1 Tsp Mint
2 Tsp Cilantro

1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree.
2. Serve.

*Place in Baby Cubes and freeze.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

This weekend my mother said to me, “I was an awful cook when you were 
little”. I admit, part of that statement is true, but there were actually 
some things my mother made for breakfast that I loved. I was a bit of a garbage can as 
a kid, eating anything and everything on my plate, unlike my little brother who 
wouldn’t eat a thing. There were a lot of cereal mornings — I mean a lot. BUT, there were 
also those mornings when my mother would muster the energy to make 
fresh muffins, omelets and my favorite, pancakes. Somehow those times seemed so important and someday I want Kenya to have nostalgic breakfast
 memories of his own.
Yesterday morning I whipped up his first batch of pancakes. I didn’t 
want them to be out-of-the-box Aunt Jemima style, but I also had a busy morning, so 
they had to be quick. 
This recipe is a perfect option. In minutes I had delicious pancakes 
that he could hold and much on while I ran around trying to get our 
morning started. If you know you’re really going to be in a 
hurry, you could also mix the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls the night before and combine them in the morning.

Whole Wheat Banana Cinnamon Pancakes (Makes 16 Mini Pancakes)

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Wheat Germ
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Egg
1 Cup Whole Milk
1 Tbsp Oil, plus more for greasing the pan
1 Banana, sliced

1. Whisk the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Whisk the egg, milk and oil in a separate bowl.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until
combined.
4. Heat a non stick pan or a griddle to medium heat. Pour a little oil
(or butter) in the pan and take a paper towel to evenly coat the pan
(make sure not to overly grease the pan).
5. Pour 1-2 tablespoons of batter into the pan to make one pancake and
let it cook until tiny bubbles start appearing and it firms up. You can make
several pancakes in the pan at once.
6. Place 1 or 2 bananas on top of the pancake. With a spatula,
gently loosen the pancakes and flip them over. Continue to cook until they appear
firm and cooked through.
7. Cool and serve.

*Allow to cool, then place in ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready, pop them into a oven at 300 for 10 minutes or until warmed through or defrost in fridge for 24 hours then heat in a dry pan.

We used these to make this recipe:

Chef’s Design 20-Inch Double Burner Reversible Grill/Griddle

This seems like a very unlikely combination, but it’s a good lesson in working with what you have available. The results were better than I expected and even when I tried it I thought it was delicious.
I added an extra ingredient to this dish: brewer’s yeast. Most people have no idea what brewer’s yeast is, but it’s a great source of vitamin B and has a kind of toasted cheese flavor. The B complex vitamins help the body produce antibodies, provide energy by converting carbohydrates into glucose, metabolize fats and proteins, and help regenerate red blood cells. A lot of vegetarians sprinkle brewer’s yeast on cereals, salads, or put it in soups, sauces and even baked goods. It can be purchased at health food stores.
Add in the broccoli and apricot puree, and this dish is also packed with vitamin C, iron, potassium and beta-carotene. Your baby will be happily buzzing about with good energy from this delicious combination.

Broccoli, Tofu and Apricot Puree (6 Baby Servings)

1 Cup Broccoli Florets
1/2 Cup Soft Tofu
2 Tbsp Apricot Puree
1 Tbsp Brewers Yeast

1. Place the broccoli in a steamer pot over boiling water and cook for
4 minutes or until broccoli is fork tender. Cool.
2. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and puree (you can
leave it chunkier for babies with a few teeth).
3. Serve.

*Place in Baby Cubes and freeze.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor